Finding the Good Life

“I want to give back to the community that raised me with a career in rural medicine,” said Chad Szylvian, ’13, one of 32 members in the first class of Maine Track graduates in comments on the WBUR-FM CommonHealth blog this spring. “What does that mean? It means that you choose to practice in an area with fewer restaurants and museums, fewer traffic lights, fewer people. It means you choose to immerse yourself in the unique culture of a small town. It means you choose to be a caretaker for an entire community. It means that you nurture, support and sustain generations of lives.

“It is an immense responsibility, but an even greater privilege. It also means that you make a great deal less money than your counterparts in other specialties, or in other areas of the country. It is not for everyone. It is the quiet life, the simple life, and—for me—the good life.”